


Smoother Tides

by WhisperOfWarmth



Series: Fodder for the Future [9]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, kylux - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, Armitage Hux/Kylo Ren Fluff, Darth Tantrum and his Evil Space Ginger, Developing Relationship, Falling In Love, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Gay Male Character, I Ship It, I Will Go Down With This Ship, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren Needs a Hug, Kylux - Freeform, M/M, Post-Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Romantic Fluff, Self-Esteem Issues, Short One Shot, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 10:14:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15459096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhisperOfWarmth/pseuds/WhisperOfWarmth
Summary: After years of being used and let down by everybody that he once held dear, Kylo Ren has developed a hard outer shell, to prevent others from hurting him again.Yet there’s one person in the First Order determined to break down that barrier ... and achieve happiness with the dark-haired Knight.





	Smoother Tides

Kylo Ren headed down the long hallway to his quarter, purposely walking much slower than normal, in an effort to delay getting there.

A delay because he knew that Hux would be there, by now.

Kylo and Hux had known each other for a good handful of years, working together alongside Supreme Leader Snoke in the First Order. Hux was Snoke’s General, commanding his illustrious army, while Kylo was Snoke’s darkside force-wielding apprentice, as well as the Order’s chief enforcer.

About a year ago, after one drink too many on the part of both of them following a celebration of the acquisition of a new star system, the two had acted on long-building sexual desires and spent the night with each other.

In the morning, sober, and waking up in Hux’s bed, Kylo was horrified at what had happened between them. He had thought Hux still asleep, and Kylo was preparing to sneak out of bed, put on his clothes, and walk out, when out of nowhere, Hux grabbed his thigh, squeezing it.

Before Kylo could make sense of what was going on, the two were at each other again. From there, they began meeting several times a week, to fulfill these most carnal of needs.

And while it made Kylo uneasy, he came to enjoy what they had, and the undeniable relief it brought him in his stressful life.

But a few months ago, things had started to change. Or rather, HUX had started to change. He started to seek Kylo out to do more things with him, that weren’t bedroom related. Accompanying him on leisure rides in his ship, dining with him; and they _were_ in bed, Hux seemed very reluctant in letting Kylo leave him afterwards.

Eventually, inevitably, Hux sat Kylo down one day, and poured out his heart on a lot of previously hidden issues. He never used the dreaded L word, but then again he didn’t have to; everything he was saying was circling around it. His talk ended with the proposition that he and Kylo begin an ‘actual’ relationship with each other, and that Kylo move into Hux’s quarters.

Despite his fear of doing so, Kylo accepted.

And living with Hux these past few weeks wasn’t so bad, Kylo had to admit. The two had disclosed their relationship to Snoke, as well as all of Hux’s officers, so that was lovely; the idea that they didn’t have to ‘sneak around’ to be with each other anymore.

But behind closed doors, alone, Hux was very, very different from the image he put on for the public.

Out there, he was General Armitage Hux. Brutal, and brilliant. He retained information at an unprecedented level, and he knew every single person, weapon, droid, machine, and corner of his base. When Hux spoke, people snapped to attention. Physically he wasn’t imposing at all, but he had an air to him, an attitude, that struck fear into the hearts of all who encountered him. The very last thing you wanted was to be summoned to his office, to ‘discuss your recent performance.’ 9/10 times, you wouldn’t be coming out again.

When he was with Kylo, Hux was overwhelmingly, almost unbearably sweet. He was loving, he was affectionate. He always had his hands on Kylo in some way, stroking his hair, massaging his back, tracing scrawling patterns into his skin; and he was always doing things for him. Upon learning that Kylo didn’t care for the food that the mess offered, Hux took it upon himself to learn how to cook, and would make Kylo meals whenever he was able. When one of the blades of Kylo’s lightsaber shorted out, Hux spent an entire evening reading every manual on lightsaber construction that he could find, until he could repair the problem himself.

He was also a tireless listener. He would ask Kylo endless questions about his past, about his day, his likes and dislikes, anything that he could think of in an attempt to get to know Kylo better.

And this scared Kylo to death. He wasn’t used to being with anybody who treated him like this, or made such an effort to be in his life. His parents had had their own agendas since Kylo was a baby, Luke Skywalker was consumed with his students and his teachings, and Snoke, of course, had an entire regime to run. Kylo was used to being a spoke on the wheel, a tool, a nonessential means to an end to whomever he was serving at any given moment. 

But Hux, was making Kylo a PRIORITY.  
Hux, was making it clear that Kylo held the A1 status in his life, the main, the important.

And Kylo couldn’t properly appreciate this, because every single second, he kept waiting for IT to happen. For Hux to decide that he was tired of Kylo, for Hux to ask him to move back out.

Living with this anxiety and fear gave Kylo a semi-permanent stomachache, and made being home with Hux more nerve-wracking than pleasant.

He had reached their door, and he took a deep breath before stepping inside.

Hux wasn’t in the living room, and Kylo breathed out a sigh of relief. Maybe that meant he wasn’t home, and Kylo could hurry into the bedroom, change his clothes, lay down and (pretend to) be asleep before Hux ...

A slight shuffling noise from the bedroom broke that illusion, however, and Kylo sighed quietly through his nose. He took off his boots and went into the bedroom, putting a smile that he hoped looked natural on his face.

The greeting he had for Hux died away when he saw what he was doing. Hux was standing in the closet, and he was holding one of Kylo’s robes in his hands.

“What are you doing?!”, Kylo exclaimed. He rushed to Hux and snatched the garment from his hands, clutching it against his chest. “Don’t touch my things!”

“S-sorry,” Hux muttered, sounding (and looking) embarrassed. “I was ... I was simply laying out your clothes for you. For tomorrow.”

“Why?”

Hux shrugged. “It’s what I do with my own clothes, so I thought maybe you’d like it if I did it with yours, as well. But I’m sorry; I should have asked, first, before touching your personal belongings.”

Kylo could feel that his cheeks had turned pink, and he sheepishly handed the robe back to Hux.

“I’M sorry. That was an overreaction. You were attempting to do something nice, and I thought ... well, actually, I don’t know what I thought. I guess I’m just not used to having someone do things like that, for me.”

Hux just nodded, a small smile on his face as he finished with his task. “Well, prepare yourself: so long as you’re with me, I’ll always find things to do, for you.”

Hux’s statement made Kylo feel both absurdly good, and horribly uneasy. He wanted so badly to believe that what he and Hux had would last, but he didn’t want to truly put hope into the matter. Years of comings and going’s with the people in his life, his past, had taught him that to depend on anyone, to fully trust, was pure folly.

Still, he thought, he may as well enjoy it while it lasted.

And he had to hand it to Hux: the redhead had quite the enviable clothes-folding skills.

— -

“Hux? What is all this?”

Kylo had come home after vigorous training with Snoke, tired, and slightly irritable. He hadn’t expected Hux to be home, as this was the night he usually had late meetings, but there he was. 

The quarters had all the lights off, lit instead by hundreds of tiny candles, covering every visible flat surface. And flowers; there must have been at least a dozen different types of blooms scattered in vases all over.

Smiling, Hux walked up to him and wrapped his arms around him. “Do you like it?”

“What IS it? Or, WHY is it?”

“Today happens to be a special day, so I thought it appropriate to decorate in a special manner. I hope you’re not allergic to any of these flowers; I wasn’t sure what kind was your favorite, so I got a variety, just to be safe.”

Kylo freed himself from Hux’s arms and went to sit on one of the chairs. “‘Special day’?”

Hux sat down beside him. 

“Yes, special day. I don’t expect you to remember this, but it was never on this date, almost 6 years ago, that we met.”

Kylo bit his lower lip and looked down, slightly shaking his head. “How do you even remember something like that?”, he muttered, mostly to himself.

“It’s a bit difficult NOT to remember the day your life changed, Kylo.”

“Your life didn’t change.”

Hux reached over and timidly took hold of one of Kylo’s hands. “Yes, it did. Meeting you was a huge surprise, you know. Snoke had told me that he was bringing a former Jedi, a student of Luke Skywalker. Naturally I expected you to be older, and ... strange, for lack of a better term. Like the way my father would speak of Jedi’s as being crazy old wizards.”

Here he paused, chucking as he squeezed Kylo’s hand tighter. 

“So imagine my shock when a tall, dark-haired, _incredibly handsome_ young man walks into Snoke’s chambers. And you were strange, but not in the way I’d been expecting. You were articulate, you were highly charismatic, almost magnetic, and you had this ... this energy to you unlike anything I’d ever experienced before. I remember purposely making my voice deeper, to try and steady my nerves, before shaking your hand. I said, ‘I’ve heard a lot about you.’ Do you remember what you said?”

Kylo shook his head, even though he remembered it perfectly well.

“You said, ‘I’ve heard nothing about you.’” Hux paused here, laughing. “That’s when I knew, for sure, that I had to make you a part of my personal life. By any means necessary.”

“You felt that way .... after I made a rude comment to you? Really?”

“Really. It’s hard to describe, but meeting you felt like ... like ...”

“It felt like something that was meant to happen,” Kylo finished for him, in a low voice. He was fighting that same battle inside of himself; part of him really wanted to hug Hux, to kiss him, to tell him how much he meant to him. But the other part ...

“This is all nice, but, I don’t really feel well. I think I’m going to go to bed early.”

He stood up and walked away from Hux and into their bedroom, keeping his back turned so that he couldn’t see the surprised, hurt look on Hux’s face.

He didn’t need to see it, to picture it perfectly.

— -

“Ren? Ren? REN!”

Hux shook Kylo as hard as he could, but his efforts yielded no success.

Kylo was sleep-talking again, which wasn’t exactly new, but lately, it had gotten a lot worse. Hux thought maybe this was because Kylo was suffering from more stress than usual, although, with him, it was hard to tell. Hux felt like there were things that Kylo kept from him, but he knew from experience that pushing him to open up was futile, on his part. Kylo had to WANT to be open with him.

So Hux just sighed and picked up his DataPad again, trying his hardest to tune out the muttering. He was successful for a while ... until the movements started. Kylo was thrashing about in bed, his arms and legs spinning wildly in all directions. His rambling got a lot clearer, too; Hux could now pick up entire sentences, rather than just fragmented bits and pieces.

“Please, oh Maker please, don’t go!”, Kylo cried out, moaning in his sleep. “Please don’t leave me!”

At the same time, he lifted his leg and ended up giving Hux a walloping jab to his side. Hux just barely caught himself from shrieking out in pain. He gingerly lifted his shirt; a big red mark in the half-print of a foot was there.

Ignoring the ache, Hux climbed over Kylo, holding his lower body down between his knees. He took one hand and shook his shoulder, hard, while the other one lightly patted Kylo’s face.

“Wake up, wake up, Kylo,” he said, loudly, attempting to hold a soothing tone to his voice. “It’s okay; wake up.”

Slowly, Kylo stopped jerking around, and Hux was relieved when he opened his eyes.

“What are — get off of me!”, Kylo demanded, startled and still half-asleep.

Hux did as he was told, sliding back to his side of the bed.

“Sorry, I think you were having bad dreams. You were talking and kicking.”

Kylo sat up, his face pink with embarrassment. “Sorry,” he mumbled, as he grabbed for the glass of water by him. He took several long, slow swallows, holding the cool cup against his chest with both hands. When he finished, he got up and went into the refresher.

Hux switched off his DataPad, laying it on the nightstand. Then he got up and turned down the covers on both sides, before sitting back in his spot.

When Kylo came out, he looked a bit calmer, and less overheated. He climbed into his side of the bed and turned out the light. “Goodnight,” he said, as he pulled the covers up to his neck and laid on his side, facing the wall.

Hux remained where he was.

“Kylo?”

“Yeah?”

“You can talk to me.”

Kylo looked over his shoulder at him, his face tense and pensive.

“Talk? About?”

Hux timidly reached out and touched his fingertips to Kylo’s back. He was scared; he knew that Kylo was uncomfortable with gestures like this, and he hoped that this wouldn’t be met with suspicion. But Kylo reacted no differently to it than he did to anything else Hux did. So Hux went on:

“You’ve been having nightmares a lot more lately. Sometimes, people have bad dreams when stressful things are going on in their real lives. So I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me.”

Kylo shook Hux’s hand off of his back, snarling, “You can mind your own karking business, Armitage. If my sleeping here bothers you so much, I won’t do it anymore. Okay? Happy?”

But part of Hux expected him to say this, and understood it. He could feel that Kylo was afraid of getting close to anyone, and whenever he felt like he was getting TOO close, he would subconsciously try and sabotage his relationship with the person, before it could go any deeper. Hence his abrupt and somewhat angry attitude now. Hux knew this, because it was how Hux was, himself.

Or, rather, how he USED to be.

But being with Kylo had changed that mindset for Hux, and no matter what, Hux was determined to not let Kylo get away from him.

“You can say anything at all to me, Kylo, and insult everything about me, but you’re neither getting rid of me, nor removing yourself from my life. Not without a fight.”

Kylo turned all the way towards him now, glaring at him.

“A fight? Are you tooling with me? I’d destroy you in combat!”

“Physically, perhaps. But mentally? You severely underestimate me, Ren. Now you’re not leaving, and you’re not going to sleep, until we talk.”

For a split second, the light in Kylo’s eyes changed, and a softness came over him that Hux couldn’t recall ever having seen before. Kylo looked as though he was going to open his mouth and tell Hux the truth. Then the scowl came back and he said, “The last time I checked, the First Order employed a fine group of psychological therapists. I don’t recall YOU being a part of that group.”

Hux sighed, and closed his eyes briefly, to control himself from making a smart remark back. If he did that, Kylo would shut down completely.

“You’re right, I’m not. The thing is, Kylo, I love you immensely, and —“

He stopped, his eyes wide, shocked. He couldn’t believe he had just said that; he had MEANT to say, that he cared about Ren immensely. Yet the word Love had found its way out of his mouth. Which was the truth; he WAS in love with Ren. Yet he had never intended to confess that to him, or at least not until their relationship was on a steadier footing.

“You — you love me?”, Kylo asked, somewhat breathlessly. He seemed like he was in even greater shock than Hux. “Really?”

Instead of walking his statement back, Hux decided to take the risk and put it all out there.

“I do. And that’s not something I expect you to say back. Honestly, no matter what you said, or whatever stupid thing you did, my feelings wouldn’t change.”

Kylo didn’t respond for a long time, so long that Hux started to wonder if he needed to repeat himself. Suddenly Kylo sat up, drawing his knees up to his chest.

“I could murder you at any time, you know,” he said, quietly. “I wouldn’t have to use a saber, I wouldn’t need a blaster; hells, I wouldn’t even have to move out of the position I’m in right now. All I’d have to do is think about it, and your head would be crushed like an insect under a fist.”

“I’m aware of that. But you haven’t.”

“I could ruin your reputation in the Order. I know things about you that could literally destroy your life. A few conversations with the right people, and Snoke, and I could have you stripped of everything you care about, everything you’ve worked towards.”

Hux nodded. “I know that, too. But, once again, you haven’t done so. And you’ve had ample opportunity, these past few years.”

Kylo sighed, burying his face in his crossed arms. His voice was muffled, yet still audible, as he said,

“I don’t know if I’m prepared to say it back. Is ... is that okay? Are you angry?”

Hux shook his head. “No, I’m not angry. I only want you to say that if/when you’re ready.”

Kylo nodded, breathing out a sigh of relief. “Well, in any case, I have a ... fond, tolerance towards you. Very fond. That’s something, right?”

Hux smiled and reached towards him, then stopped, hesitant. “I feel as though your statement warrants some display of physical affection. Is it alright with you if we shared a hug?”

Kylo scooted into Hux and put his arms around him, smirking, and squeezing hard enough to hurt the thinner man.

“Damn!”, Hux exclaimed, breaking himself out of Kylo’s grip, “Have you never given a hug in your life, before?! You nearly cracked my ribs!”

“Apologies,” Kylo said, laying back down on his own side. “I’ll work on it. Goodnight.”

He turned over on his side and closed his eyes ... but Hux wasn’t going to let him get away with that. He rolled over Kylo’s body until he was laying directly in his personal space, just barely keeping from falling off the bed. “You’re still going to talk to me, Ren.”

Kylo huffed in exasperation. “Haven’t you anything at all better to do, right now?”

“I don’t sleep well unless I’ve solved all the problems I’ve encountered in a day. And you, Ren, are a top priority case. So I have to fix this.”

“Do you ever think that you make a bigger deal out of things than necessary?”

“Do YOU ever think that you let too many small things build up inside until they become big things?”

“No. I don’t.”

“Fine, you don’t. I’m wrong in saying that because this isn’t a small thing, at all. It’s a big thing that you’ve let get even bigger, and it’s something that bothers you and gives you bad dreams. It makes you tense up when I hug you, it makes you cringe when I try and be romantic with you.”

Here he stopped, looking down and speaking in a barely audible voice.

“Did I make a mistake, asking you to be with me? Asking you to move in? Did I put you in a position where you complied simply because you didn’t want to hurt my feelings?”

“You sound like — like —“

“Like what?”

Taking a deep breath, Kylo went on: “You sound like my father. He and my mother used to have talks like this all the time, behind their bedroom door, when they thought I was asleep. But I wasn’t. I heard them, all the time.”

Hux pulled back, startled. “I’m sorry. I was always under the impression that your parents had a strong marriage. The history books are filled to the brim with tales of their galactic exploits. They —“

“Books are one thing, reality is another. They worked in the beginning, before — before I was born. And when I was still young ... Dad was always doing nice things for mom. As a kid it made me sick; he was always groping on her behind, always kissing her, always bringing her flowers and pretty things. And then one day, everything changed. Well, not all in one day, but that’s what it felt like, you know? It went from touching all the time to them hardly saying Good Morning to each other. And then one day dad came to me and told me he and Chewie were making a haul to Corelia. And he just never came back. He sent letters, he sent holos, but I didn’t physically see him again until ... until that day, on Starkiller.”

Hux was quiet for a long time, letting Kylo’s words sink in. 

“Are you scared that I’ll do that to you, ‘Lo?”

“You act a lot like how he acted with my mom, in the early days.”, Kylo said, not directly answering Hux’s question. “You do nice things, you say nice things ... I feel like I’m constantly waiting for the other boot to drop.”

Hux took Kylo’s hand, gently stroking over his fingers.

“I’m glad that you told me that,” Hux said, smiling. “I’m glad that you’ve finally let me see into you, a little. You know, it’s funny; all day long, I solve the problems of the Order. But here’s a problem in my own home, and I haven’t a clue where to begin, fixing it. I just ... things take time. This, me and you, will take time. And patience. You need the time to see that I’m not going to hurt you, I need the patience with waiting for you to love me back, if ever.”

“And just how long are you willing to wait, Hux? Kylo asked quietly.

“As long as it takes. Because, believe it or not, you’re worth it.”

He leaned over and softly kissed Kylo’s cheek, before laying back down on his own side.

“Goodnight.”

“‘Night.”

— -

Hux was alone, his back to Kylo. He was speaking out-loud, likely in the middle of rehearsing a speech he was set to give soon.

He was doing that, because he knew that Kylo would ‘get annoyed’ when he rehearsed things at home. So he eliminated the problem. The same way he modified his life to fit around Kylo’s preferences, in every situation.

It was the end of another long week, and Kylo was on his way back from his training session with Snoke. He had been passing Hux’s office when he noticed the door was open.

Kylo stood in the doorway and watched him for a few moments. His voice was so confident, so commanding ... yet when he spoke with Kylo, it was as soft as a flower-petal touching his cheek.

Kylo had been spending a lot of time thinking, about Hux and himself. About their relationship. About trust and honesty and patience.

About being hurt.

About how, if you spend all your time focusing on the bad things, you leave yourself with no room to enjoy the good.

And standing in front of Kylo, with his red hair and black coat, his pale skin and freckles, his gorgeous blue eyes ... was a good thing.

Possibly the BEST thing, ever.

“Hux?”

Hux jumped a little and turned around, clearly surprised. “Oh. Hello, Ren. What are you doing h—“

Kylo interrupted him by crossing the floor, taking Hux’s face between his hands, and tenderly kissing him.

“We should off-base for dinner,” Kylo said as he let go. “Anywhere that you want. Would you like that?”

Hux nodded eagerly, gathering his things. “Yes! But what’s the occasion?”

“You. You’re the occasion.”

He put his hands back on Hux’s face and pulled him close, kissing him again.

“I love you, Hux,” he murmured when he pulled away, leaving Hux in a stunned silence. “But, you know, I _also_ love food, so let’s go already, I’m starving.”

Hux laughed and hugged him, hard, before they left his office together.


End file.
